The present invention relates to enabling a computer to provide a multimedia experience to a user that spans various devices, and more particularly, is directed to a server computer programmed to receive and forward messages to a personal computer having a data communication network address unknown to resource providers.
Parties wishing to offer information and/or services and/or products to users, such as consumers, are using the Internet in increasing numbers. Typically, the offeror creates a web site and enables users to interact with the content at the web site via a conventional hypertext transfer protocol.
Various platforms exist for enhancing web page content, such as Sun Microsystems JAVA, Microsoft Silverlight and Adobe Flash.
Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash) is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to Web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements and games. More recently, it has been positioned as a tool for Rich Internet Applications. To this end, Adobe released Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), a cross-platform runtime environment which can be used to build, using Adobe Flash, rich Internet applications that can be deployed as desktop applications. AIR is installed silently when Acrobat Reader is installed.
Flash manipulates vector and raster graphics to provide animation of text, drawings, and still images. It supports bidirectional streaming of audio and video, and it can capture user input via mouse, keyboard, microphone, and camera. Flash contains an Object-oriented language called ActionScript, discussed below. The use of vector graphics combined with program code allows Flash files to be smaller—and thus for streams to use less bandwidth—than the corresponding bitmaps or video clips. In addition to a vector-rendering engine, the Flash Player includes a virtual machine called the ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM) for scripting interactivity at run-time, support for video, MP3-based audio, and bitmap graphics. Flash Player is a browser plugin, and cannot run within a usual e-mail client, such as Outlook. Instead, a link must open a browser window. A Gmail labs feature allows playback of YouTube videos linked in mails.
Flash content may be displayed on various computer systems and devices, using Adobe Flash Player, which is available free of charge for common Web browsers, some mobile phones, smart phones and a few other electronic devices (using Flash Lite).
Flash script instruction files are in the ShockWave Flash (.swf) format, are used for content such as Flash games, may include media, such as .mp4 or .mov or .flv files, and may be used in the form of a Web-page plug-in, strictly “played” in a standalone Flash Player, or incorporated into a self-executing Projector movie (with the .exe extension in Microsoft Windows). Flash Video files have a .flv file extension and are either used from within .swf files or played through a fly-aware player, such as VLC, or QuickTime and Windows Media Player with external codecs added
ActionScript is a scripting language developed by Adobe. It has the same syntax and semantics as the more widely known JavaScript, and is used primarily for the development of websites and software targetting the Adobe Flash Player platform, used on Web pages in the form of embedded SWF files. ActionScript was initially designed for controlling simple 2D vector animations made in Adobe Flash. Initially focused on animation, early versions of Flash content offered few interactivity features and thus had very limited scripting capability. Later versions added functionality allowing for the creation of Web-based games and rich Internet applications with streaming media (such as video and audio). Flash MX 2004 introduced ActionScript 2.0, a scripting programming language more suited to the development of Flash applications. It is often possible to save time by scripting something rather than animating it, which usually also enables a higher level of flexibility when editing. ActionScript 3.0 is an object oriented programming language allowing far more control and code reusability when building complex Flash applications. This version of the language is intended to be compiled and run on a version of the ActionScript Virtual Machine.
Flash libraries can be used with the XML capabilities of the browser to render rich content in the browser. This technology is known as Asynchronous Flash and XML, much like AJAX.
Systems providing a multimedia experience to a user are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,010 (Levy) explains that a linked object is created by associating an identifier for a media object (video, audio, graphic) with metadata (col. 2, lines 55-56). A decoding process in a media player extracts the identifier from the object and uses it to retrieve related data (col. 2, lines 63-65). The related data enables actions such as purchases or transferring content (streaming or downloading) from a main server (column 3, lines 3-5), or redirecting to another server (col. 4, lines 63-67). The other server returns data via the main server (col. 5, lines 37-40) linked via the identifier (col. 5, lines 51-52).
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0005394 (Dubnov) shows a client-server system in which the client's display has a billboard area, and the server pushes information to the billboard area [0024]. The information is pushed in accordance with a scripted timeline [0025]. The server stores all the information that is to be pushed to the viewer [0040].
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0230410 (Harless) shows a unitary system that executes a script. In response to client utterances, different information is displayed according to the script. Each video clip starts and ends in a “neutral” position to minimize discontinuity when segueing from clip to clip.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0252533 (Sakaguchi) shows, in FIGS. 3-4, communication network 302 that connects key distribution center 306, online services 304(l) . . . 304(s), game units 100(l) . . . 100(g), and data center 410. Game units can communicate with online services or with the data center. Via the data center, game units can communicate data with other game units. Notification server 418 at data center 410 maintains queues of messages for logged-in gamers [0061]. The game embodies a story. Each game unit has at least two frames in its display, for synchronized interactive and non-interactive videos relating to the story [0077-0092].
However, a party wishing to offer a multi-media experience to a user without requiring that the user download special client software, cannot easily provide such an experience.